Ingestion of bacteria in a eutrophic subtropical reservoir pond with food web mainly controlled by zooplankton grazing

This study evaluated the zooplanktonic bacterivory at a eutrophic subtropical reservoir pond by the quantification of the bacterial grazing and clearance rates of the protozooplanktonic (ciliates and nanoplankton) and metazooplanktonic (rotifers, cladocerans and copepods) populations during one year period. For this purpose, in situ experiments with fluorescently labeled bacteria (FLB) were carried out every two months on the sub-surface of the reservoir pond. Considering the individual grazing and clearance rates, the metazooplanktonic organisms showed the highest consumption of bacteria. However, in terms of population and considering all the zooplanktonic community, the heterotrophic nanoplanktonic organisms (HNP) accounted for 73% of the total bacteria ingested, being the most important bacterial consumers in the reservoir, due to their high population densities. Among them, the HNP smaller than 5 μm showed the highest population grazing rates, also due to their high abundance. These organisms were the main responsible for bacteria regulation by grazing in the reservoir. Among the metazooplanktonic organisms, the highest ingestion of bacteria occurred by the copepods (10%) during the wet season, and by the rotifers (22%) during the dry season. Thus, the metazooplanktonic population grazing rates were significantly different over the year, between the cold/dry and hot/rainy season. These seasonal differences were not observed in the density and biomass of picoplankton nor in the population grazing rates of ciliates and HNP. Nevertheless, the protozoa (ciliates and HNP) were directly responsible for most of the predation on bacteria, while the metazooplanktonic populations were indirectly responsible for it by the consumption of protozoa in a cascading effect.